Mechanism for processing vegetable fibers



Aug- 3, 1954 B. ARMSTRONG 2,685,108

MECHANISM FOR PROCESSING VEGETABLE FIBERS Filed Aug. 22, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet l gul-Ill.

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ERL/c5 eMsrwo/va Aug. 3, 1954 B. ARMSTRONG MECHANISM FOR PROCESSINGVEGETABLE FIBERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 22, 1952 Patented Aug. 3,1954 UNTED STATES OFFICE 2,685,108 MECHANISM F01?, PROCESSING VEGETABLEFIBERS Bruce Armstrong,

Saginaw, Mich., `ackson & Church Company,

assigner to Saginaw, Mich.,

6 Claims.

This invention relates to means for processing vegetable bers andparticularly toa type thereof involving a pair of rotatable plateshaving teeth extending into a zone intermediate said plates.

In a method for separating the bers of vegetable materials from eachother and for separating the long fibers, otherwise known as bastfibers, from pith or parenchyma, as described in ing said bending momentto said vegetable materials, there is utilized a pair of plates rotatingWith respect to each other, said plates being slightly spaced apart andeach having a plurality of teeth thereon extending into an annularspace, or processing zone, defined therebetween. Thus, when thevegetable materials are fed into the center of said annular space andpermitted to move outwardly toward the periphery thereof, the teethextending from one of said plates engage said vegetable materials andbend the same against the teeth of the other of said plates whereby thenecessary bending is applied reidly and accurately.

In the provision of plates, and the arrangement of teeth thereon, therehas been present in plates designed for related types of machines anumber of characteristics which render such plates somewhat ill-suitedfor carrying' out the method presently under consideration. Accordingly,it was desired to provide plate and tooth design which a high degree ofbending of the vegetable material would be obtained, by which a maximumflow of material through the zone occupied by said teeth would beobtained and yet a design according to which a plate could be maderapidly and relatively inexpensively.

Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is the provision of apair of plates adapted to denne an annular processing zone whenco-axially tending toward each other for engaging and benf ing vegetablematerial fed therebetween.

A further object of the invention is toy provide a device, as aforesaid,wherein the bending can be carried out accurately and efficiently andwith a minimum of breakage or cutting of the bers of said vegetablematerial,

A further object of the invention is to provide a device, as aforesaid,which can be manufactured rapidly and eiiiciently.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device, as aforesaid,which will permit a maximum dow of material through the processing zone.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device, as aforesaid,which will be strong and sturdy and not readily subject to breakage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device, aforesaid,wherein a tooth can be readily replaced in the event that breakage ordamage does occur.

A further object of the invention is to provide Figure 2 represents saidtwo plates.

Figure 3 represents a top view of the upper of said two plates.

Figure 4l is a section taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 2.

Figure 5 shows an alternate tooth structure.

Figure 6 shows a further alternate tooth structure.

Figure 7 is a section taken on the line VII-VII of Figure 6.

Figure 8 shows a further modified taken in central vertical section.

In carrying out the objects and purposes above set forth I have provideda pair of plates adapted for defining a processing Zone when co-axiallypositioned and suitably spaced apart and provided with a plurality ofaxially extending teeth, each thereof extending into said zone denedbetween said two plates. Where, as is usual, one of said plates has anopening in its center for the feeding of material therebetween, the zoneinto which said teeth extend and in which the vegetable material isprocessed is an annular zone as indicated in the figures. The teeth arepreferably round and extend through said plate from the respectivelyremote faces of each thereof.

Looking at said plates and tooth structures now in more detail there isshown in Figure 1 a pair of plates i and 2 which in this embodiment maytooth design be taken to be positioned in vertically spaced horizontalplanes. The upper of said plates is for illustrative purposes assumed tobe affixed to the frame 3 of a machine and the lower of said two platesis mounted on the spindle E which is supported by suitable bearings l!and 5, and driven by any conventional means, not shown. it will beunderstood, of course, that this somewhat arbitrary section of specificoperating details is for illustrative purposes only and is not to beconstrued as limiting. Heat exchange means 'I may be provided ifdesired.

Referring now to the lower plate 2 in detail there is shown a pluralityof substantially round pins on teeth it. As best shown in Figure e, eachof these pins has a body portion l l which is press fitted into anopening l2 in said plate. The lower side of said pin has a head i3formed thereon for engaging a counter-bore in the lower surface of saidlower plate and at the upper end of said pin there is provided asubstantially cylindrical shank it which is preferably, for reasonsappearing hereinafter, formed with a diameter slightly smaller than thediameter of said body portion.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be observed that, as indicated by thebroken line A, said pins ID are arranged in said plate in radiallyspaced rings, and the circumferential spacing of said pins is such as toarrange said pins, as indicated by the line By in Figure 2, insubstantially spiral rows, said rows being defined by arcs struck fromcenters of which one is indicated by the point C. Point C is positionedintermediate the center of the lower plate 2 and the periphery thereofand is offset circumferentially with respect to all radii of the platepassing through any of the The amount of such offset and the radius ofthe arc B will be selected so as to approximate the vector-resultant ofthe radial and tangential velocities of the material to be processed atthree or more radii and to provide a smooth curve drawn through thesevectors. rlhe teeth or pins are located at the intersection of arc B anda series of concentric circles A chosen, as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4,to gradually reduce the bending span as the periphery is approached.Thus, a somewhat spiral path is provided from the central Zone of saidlower plate to the periphery thereof, as illustrated by the shaded areaD in Figure 2. The purpose of this arrangement will appear hereinafter.

Turning now to Figures 3 and 4, for a similar showing of the structureof the upper plate, it

will be seen that similar teeth are similarly arranged in said upperplate. Said teeth are similarly constructed and are similarly affixed.rEhe arrangement of said teeth in circumferential and radially spacedrows is generally similar to that in the lower plate shown in Figure 2,and said teeth are arranged circumferentially with respect to each otherin any respective ring to provide a path indicated by the shaded zone E.It will be noted that said shaded zone E curves in the oppositedirection from the zone D of the lower plate shown in Figure 2.

As will appear more clearly after a description of the operation of theapparatus, the circumferential offset of any given row, as the row i3(Figure 2), with respect to the adjacent radialhr inner row, as the rowI9, is in such a direction that the paths indicated by the shaded areasD and E, and their several counterparts, curve for each plate in thedirection that material is urged by the teeth of the other plate.

The radially 7 As shown by the phantom form,

inner faces of both plates may preferably diverge to provide a throat I1for the easier reception of chunks or bundles of unseparated fibers.

In the stationary plate the only energy Present is that imparted to thematerial by the teeth of the rotating plate. Hence, the distance betweenthe teeth, measured on any concentric circle, is greater in thestationary plate than in the rotating plate in order to not undulyretard the progress of the material through the plate. Extra teeth 24,intermediate the teeth located by the intersection of arcs B with onlythe outermost of the concentric circles A, are provided in the rotatingplate. It is intended to control the volumetric capacity of theapparatus by reducing the discharge area and thus impeding too free adischarge of material, without the necessity of reducing the distancebetween the plates, that is, the gap indicated in Figure 1. This permitssecuring a high capacity from the apparatus without danger of burningcaused by friction between the plates and the material. On somematerials having high resistance to heat damage, low coefficients offriction or capacity to break up readily, these intermediate teeth maybe omitted.

On the stationary plate, similar intermediate teeth 25 are similarlyprovided in the two outermost concentric circles because vthe inherentlyhigh centrifugal force developed by the high rotative speed of therotating plate provides sufficient impetus to keep the material movingthrough without danger of burning. One or both rows may likewise beomitted here on such materials as indicated above.

As alternate construction, reference is made t0 Figure 5 wherein thereis shown a slant type of tooth capable of effecting certain additionalfunctions. By using this tooth, the clearance between teeth may bereadily adjusted when plate are moved axially toward or away from theteeth of the other plate. The reduction in diameter of the shank of thetooth with respect to the body part of the tooth, in both this form oftooth and that shown in Figure 4, is to provide a slight clearancebetween said teeth under all conditions and thereby to permit ordinarymanufacturing errors in the positioning of said teeth to beaccommodated. As said plates, fitted with teeth of the Figure 5 aremoved axially toward and away from each other it will be apparent thatthe spacing between said teeth may be readily adjusted very accuratelyand thereby the equipment rendered capable of performing operations ofvarious types, it being borne in mind that for carrying out the methodas above indicated and described in detail in my co-pending applicationSerial No. 297,078, filed July 3, 1952, it is necessary that he teetheffect only bending of the fibers and do not effect any cutting thereof.

Another type of tooth is illustrated in Figures 6 and '7. In this tooth,both the forward and rearward edges are rounded in the same manner asthe cylindrical teeth shown in Figure 5,

i but the tooth is sufciently elongated as to provide substantialsupport at the trailing side of each tooth. This is for the purpose ofenabling the tooth to be materially longer than might otherwise bepermitted by the round type of tooth or it may permit the tooth to besomewhat thinner than would be possible with a round type of tooth andthereby the teeth may be set relatively close together for imposingbending moments on the fibers of relatively short lengths. lines inFigure 6, the

In operation, it will be assumed that the upper plate is stationary andthe bottom plate is With the lower plate rotating and the upper platestationary, as above indicated, be processed is introduced first entersthe throat I7 and is engaged by the relatively widely spaced inner rowsof teeth I8 and I9. For illustrative purposes, a particular section ofvegetable material may be considered It will be appreciated actualmovement of a given section of vegetable fiber will be the resultant ofits radial motion and the tangential motion imparted to it by the teeth,as the teeth 2l and 22, of the movable lower plate. In View of therelatively high speed of rotation of said movable plate, as 1750 R. P.M.,

instance, with plates of 28 inches diameter and having a inch openingthrough the upper plates, a given section of vegetable liber may beexpected to travel some 8 feet circumferentially while it is travelingapproximately 61/2 inches will travel throughout in a tively greater.

However, the outward progression of the given section of material willnot be in a perfectly smooth spiral but rather it will move somewhatstepwise by moving from one circular path to progression of materialplace through and along the paths of said open areas. These open areaspermit a large quantity of material to move through the apparatus andthe equipment is thereby provided with capacity quantity of material.

for handling a large Accordingly. a device has been provided capable ofaccomplishing the objects and purposes above set forth.

While vention have been here selected for illustrative pressly provideotherwise.

I claim:

respectively adjacent next inner row in circumferential oifsetrelationship, the direction of said offsets for each plate being thatdirection in which material is urged by the teeth of the other of saidrespective plates, whereby to define a plurality of spirally arrangedchannels through said teeth from an inner zone to the outer periphery ofeach of said respective plates.

2. A device dened in claim l wherein each of said teeth is substantiallycylindrical in the portion thereof within the zone between said plates.

3. The device dened in claim l wherein said teeth extend through therespective plates upon which they are fastened from the respectivelyremote sides thereof.

4. The device defined in claim 1 wherein said teeth taper converginglyfrom the respectively opposed surfaces of said plates.

5. The device defined in claim 1 wherein said teeth are arranged in aplurality of spaced rows, each of said rows defined by the arc of acircle whose center is (l) located intermediate the center of saidplates and the peripheries thereof and (2) circumferentially olfset fromall radii of said plates passing through said teeth.

6. The device defined in claim 1 having teeth near the periphery only ofa plate and within said spirally arranged channels.

References Cited in the le of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 509,633 Germany Oct. 10, 1930 654,573 Great Britain June 20, 1951

